Unwanted
by Tiger Jackal
Summary: *CHAPTER 11 UP*This is pretty much a Lief/Jasmine and Ranesh/Marilen story with its humorous points. There will also be action in further chapters. Please give me your opinions...
1. Fresh Air

**Unwanted**

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Deltora Quest characters.  However, I do own Dakota, a character I have chosen to throw in.  My best friend, Stephanie, owns Dakota's boyfriend and best friend, the mimic, Lillend. (I don't think I will be putting Lillend in this, however, I probably will have Dakota in this)

Summary: This story is pretty much a story about romance between L/J (Lief and Jasmine).  It will also have quite a bit of romance between Ranesh and Marilen.  Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this fanfic… although, I'm not sure how often I'll update it but I might update it once or more times than that a day, depending on my end-of-the-year homework and such from school.  Over summer you'll probably receive several more fanfics on Deltora Quest from me.

**Chapter I**

~*~*~

"Jasmine… Jasmine…"

Jasmine did not wish to wake from the dream she was having, she was quite pleased with her dream.  She was back in the forests with Kree and Filli; where she had her nest, her few possessions, and her open space, well, not so open because of the trees, but it was her space.  It was her home.  And she missed it.  Sure, the beds of the palace were comfortable, the meals were delicious, and the fact she had Lief, Barda, Sharn and her father around made it all the better.  Except she still longed for the open space of which she had once had as a home.

"Jasmine, come on Jasmine, wake up, you've already missed breakfast…" Lief's soft voice pried into her head.  Jasmine groggily opened her green eyes, which did not focus, but she swatted at Lief who was standing above her, looking down at her and trying to wake her.  He only laughed at her as she rolled over, face flat down in her pillow.  "Don't suffocate yourself Jasmine…" Lief said.  "Come on now… get up."

"Lief… go away…" Jasmine groaned, swatting at him again, but he caught her by the wrist.

"Ooh no you don't, no hitting me today Jasmine," Lief said.  "Come on!" he began acting like a child, and literally dragged Jasmine so she had to roll onto her back, and then dragged her on to the floor, and he fell on his butt and grinned at her.  "Welcome to the world of the living." He said.

Jasmine glared up at him.  "Shall I also give you your nice warm welcome to the world of manly hood pain?" she asked him.  Lief swallowed and shook his head.  "Didn't think so," she trailed as she sat up and rubbed her tired green eyes.  She ran her fingers through her mangled black hair, but that only got it to the point where there were few knots in it.

"Why don't you just brush it?" Lief asked her as he stood up, offering her his hand, which she took and helped herself up, and releasing his hand once she was standing.

"I still prefer the old ways," she said with a sigh.  "I miss them."

"Me too," Lief said.  "But at least there is no threat left against us, at least it is at peace."  Jasmine could only nod in agreement, eyes distant.  Lief took her hand again, however, and began to lead her out of the room, and down the long halls of the palace.  "Come Jasmine, if you want to wake up, I'd suggest you get some fresh air… I know how you are without your fresh air and it isn't pleasant."

"Ooh, you're a wonderful friend, drag me out of bed, tell me to get some fresh air, and act casual about the entire thing!  And I don't even get a good morning!"

"Hey, I did all that for you, and I still haven't gotten my good morning Jasmine," Lief teased.

~*~*~

Jasmine, however, as much sarcasm she had thrown back and forth with Lief like a ball, she had taken his advice, and was now outside, in the palace gardens.  Ooh how she longed to go home, and yet, she wanted to stay here with her friends as well.  It was all just so hard on the young girl.  She sighed as she sat in the gardens, on one of the several large, flat rocks in the centre of the gardens.

She wasn't alone however, and feeling the eyes on her she turned around, and jumped.  "Ranesh, I've told you to stop doing that!" she said, a little irritated and the man's sudden appearance.

"Sorry Jasmine," Ranesh apologized.  "I did not mean to startle you.  Lief sent me out to check on you.  I suppose I was getting on his nerves, standing there with him and the others as well," he said.

"That's no surprise, you can startle a mouse with the way you come up on people!"

"Looks like I already have, little Jasmine," Ranesh teased.

"Shut up," Jasmine said, facing away from him again, hugging her knees and resting her chin on her knees.  "Lief woke me up again and I'm not in a very good mood, I'm still so tired for some reason, I don't know why.  I just feel so weak," she was not sure why she was telling all this to Ranesh, Marilen's boyfriend and best friend, instead of telling it to Lief, her best friend, or Sharn or Doom.  "To tell you the truth I've been in a lot of pain, especially in my stomach… lately I've just wanted to sleep off the pain, but… I can't, I want to go home.  I miss my old home but if I go I'll miss Lief and my friends here."

"Perhaps you're just homesick," Ranesh said.

"That's easy for you to say, you aren't homesick, you have Marilen here, you have someone to hold onto and to hold you," Jasmine snapped at him.  "Whether you need it or not…" she trailed off.

"Is that your problem?  You're lonely?" Ranesh asked.  By now he was standing beside her at the rock.  Jasmine hastily shook her head, not wanting Ranesh to get that impression, although, now that she thought about it, it was true.  She did long for someone to hold her and comfort her sometimes.  Sure, a friend to comfort was good, but… someone to love her would be far better.

"I can't believe that," Ranesh said.  "You certainly seem lonely." He crossed his arms.  
  


"Well I'm not, okay?" Jasmine snapped as she stood on the rock, taller than Ranesh when she was standing on the large rock.  _Just unwanted._ She thought to herself as she stormed off, out of the gardens and heading towards the gates of the palace.  She leaned on them, forlornly looking out towards the forests.  _Why can't I find a moment of peace here?  How can anyone else?  You constantly have people following you here and there, why can't I just have a place of my own, outside, where I can be all alone?  Why?  What is it with palaces and not leaving people alone once and a while?  Ugh!_

~*~*~

Um… please tell me what you think of that chapter.  And the next chapter which I'm going to start to work on right away.  The next chapter will have quite a bit with Marilen and Ranesh, and a tiny bit of Jasmine and Lief.  Ooh, and by the way, in this story, Ranesh and Marilen are to be wed in a few weeks.


	2. Reluctance

**Unwanted**

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Deltora Quest characters.  However, I do own Dakota, a character I have chosen to throw in.  My best friend, Stephanie, owns Dakota's boyfriend and best friend, the mimic, Lillend. (I don't think I will be putting Lillend in this, however, I probably will have Dakota in this)

Summary: This story is pretty much a story about romance between L/J (Lief and Jasmine).  It will also have quite a bit of romance between Ranesh and Marilen.  Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this fanfic… although, I'm not sure how often I'll update it but I might update it once or more times than that a day, depending on my end-of-the-year homework and such from school.  Over summer you'll probably receive several more fanfics on Deltora Quest from me.

IMPORTANT: By the way, it does get a little sappy in this chapter with Ranesh and Marilen, but hardly.

**Chapter II**

**~*~*~**

After that encounter with Jasmine, Ranesh had gone back into the palace, and up to the room he had there.  He no longer shared a room with Joseph, but shared a room with Marilen instead.  He ran a hand through his hair, and opened the door, walking into his and Marilen's room.  He went and flopped down on his back on the bed, closing his eyes in thought.  He wanted to put his old thieving skills to work, although, he did not want to disappoint anyone.  Especially Marilen or Joseph.

As Ranesh lay there, he suddenly felt someone straddle his waist, and he opened one of his hazel eyes to look up at who it was.  It was Marilen.  She seemed quite happy, the opposite of Jasmine that day.  It was strange to Ranesh to have entirely different emotions surrounding him with everyone that lived in the palace, because he wasn't even used to being around his own and Joseph's emotions together, since they were usually opposite emotions.  Marilen leaned down and nuzzled him under his chin, but Ranesh didn't really respond.

"Hello Marilen," he said softly.  Marilen raised her head.

"What's wrong Ranesh?" she asked, tilting her head, slightly worried as opposed to happy now.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Ranesh said.  "Just thinking, that's all."

"Thinking about what?"

"What Jasmine said," Ranesh answered.  "She's lonely but she won't admit it," Marilen gave him a soft smile at his words.

"So were you Ranesh, and you did the same thing, just deny it and deny it," Marilen said, nuzzling under his chin once again.  "And I'm sure Jasmine will be fine, she may be lonely, but she's also homesick, it's too obvious."

  
Ranesh merely nodded, and snaked his arms around Marilen's waist and sighed.  "Yes, but if Jasmine isn't happy, Barda, Doom and Lief are not either."

~*~*~

Jasmine was wandering the halls of the palace, bored, and a little angry.  Lief was again going to Tora, and again, he would not allow Jasmine to come with him.  He was going to find Marilen's father and inform her about Marilen's engagement to Ranesh, because every letter that had tried to be sent to Tora, never got there for some reason.  Nor did the messenger.

She didn't see why Lief would not let her come.  So what if it was dangerous?  Jasmine was sure that whatever it was not letting the messengers live or deliver the messages wasn't half as dangerous as the Shadow Lord they had faced in the Shadowlands, so she was quite offended really.

Lief was jogging after Jasmine, trying to get her attention, but she was clearly ignoring his attempts, mad at him.  "Jasmine!  Jasmine come on!" Lief said.  "Don't be mad at me!  I just don't want anything to happen to you!"

  
Jasmine spun around and Lief nearly rammed into her, but stopped just before he did, hands on Jasmine's shoulders.  Jasmine shoved his hands off her shoulders.

"We've been in more danger than that and you let me come along!" Jasmine snapped.

"You don't know that!" Lief protested.  "It could be far worse!  No travelers from here have made it to Tora in months!"

"Then why didn't you look into it then?  Lief!  You're king, your people depend on you to keep them safe, and yet you haven't even _tried_ to figure this out!  All you're trying to do is get a message to Marilen's father!  Which is more important your highness?  The lives of your people or a wedding between Ranesh and Marilen when, with the unknown danger, they might not even make it to!" she then turned, and stormed towards her room, leaving Lief behind.

~*~*~

Lief sighed, sitting in his bedchamber.  He had not talked to anyone since Jasmine had yelled at him.  He didn't want to talk to anyone right now, or for the rest of the night for that matter.  He just wanted to be alone, and, as he finally began to sort the words of Jasmine out in his head, his peace was disturbed by a knock on the door, and his mother looking in.

Sharn carefully entered the room and shut the door behind her.  "Lief?  What's wrong?" she asked.  She had to speak to Lief about something, but, first, she wanted to find out just what was wrong, so she'd know whether to leave or not.

"Jasmine yelled at me…"

  
"Why?"

"Because I won't let her come to Tora with me.  I don't want her to get hurt, and yet she's horribly mad at me for it.  Not only that, she's made me feel very guilty because I haven't even tried to find out what this danger was to save the kingdom, and I realize that now, and feel even worse…" Lief replied.

Sharn sighed softly, clasping her hands in front of her.  "Well… that is true, so she is correct that _none_ of us have looked into this danger, none of us have even tried.  But nobody directly in the kingdom has been harmed, at least not of what I have heard.  You can, _we_ can still start to at least try to figure it out, and save the people before they're in any danger inside the kingdom at all."

Lief nodded.  "You're right.  Let's get started then."

"You'll let Jasmine come with you?"

Lief, who was by now standing, looked back at his mother.  "But… what if she gets hurt?"

"She's a strong girl Lief.  She'll be fine," Sharn said.

Lief nodded, and moved out of the room, cloak billowing behind him.

~*~*~

There's that chapter.  Um… yeah.  There'll be quite a bit more with Ranesh and Marilen if you people want it, and yes, there will be Lief and Jasmine stuff, probably within the next two or three chapters.  Opinion please!


	3. Running with the King's Blood

**Unwanted**

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Deltora Quest characters.  However, I do own Dakota, a character I have chosen to throw in.  My best friend, Stephanie, owns Dakota's boyfriend and best friend, the mimic, Lillend. (I don't think I will be putting Lillend in this, however, I probably will have Dakota in this)

Summary: This story is pretty much a story about romance between L/J (Lief and Jasmine).  It will also have quite a bit of romance between Ranesh and Marilen.  Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this fanfic… although, I'm not sure how often I'll update it but I might update it once or more times than that a day, depending on my end-of-the-year homework and such from school.  Over summer you'll probably receive several more fanfics on Deltora Quest from me.

THANKS: Thanks to people who reviewed.  Of course, FFNet didn't let me upload when I thought I could. Ah well, here's a few uploads today for ya! ^_-

**Chapter III**

~*~*~

Lief sighed.  He had given in and let Jasmine come as well.  She seemed somewhat happier at least.  Lief was standing outside with Jasmine, Barda, Doom and Sharn, bidding Doom and Sharn goodbye before they left.

The company then started on their way, carrying their small packs, one blanket each, one water flask each, only a small amount of food in each pack to last them the trip to Tora, where they would re-fill the food in their packs and head back to Del.  They walked for hours, before they finally came to a stop.  They had left later than Jasmine would have wanted to, so they did not travel as far as they could have, the only got to the third forest in the grouping of forests known as the Forests of Silence.  Jasmine's nest was still there, and so they found it, and climbed up to it to sleep there for the night.

They switched watches like they used to do, but Barda ended up taking up both his and Lief's shifts, since Lief slept through his.  The night was oddly silent, and by morning, all of them, except for Barda, were well rested.  The group moved on anyhow.  

As the day went by, and they got closer to their destination, and were now walking along the river, the water was oddly calm.  It looked as though nothing had touched it for days; it was so still you could have sworn it was ice.  Nothing moved under the water either, nothing at all disturbed its peace.  It gave it an eerie sort of look, like a dead body's eyes.  But Jasmine, Lief and Barda continued on their way.  

Jasmine was staying far from the water's edge; she did not like water and still did not know how to swim.  Barda walked not too far behind Jasmine, while Lief walked off to her side, right along the river bank, looking for any sign of life in the cool waters.  But he saw nothing.

"Give it up Lief, you aren't going to find anything," Barda said, not looking over at Lief.  Lief still looked though.

"No… I'll find something," he said.  Jasmine just sighed; she glanced at Lief, and then glanced ahead again.  _Lief, things have changed.  Things are more peaceful for those in __Del__, but, by news we've heard of the messengers not making it, I doubt they are at peace here._ Jasmine thought to herself.

Jasmine stopped abruptly, and, Barda, who had not been paying attention, walked into her.  She swatted back at him, and glared, then looked around.  "Do you hear that?" she asked.

  
"Hear what?" Lief and Barda asked in unison, looking around, then at Jasmine.

"Nevermind…" Jasmine said, and started walking again.  The two boys glanced at each other before shrugging it off and going back to walking themselves.  Jasmine remained alert as she continued to walk, but the boys were sort of drifting.  Especially Lief.  Jasmine looked at Lief, as did Barda.  For Barda the drifting was merely because he was tired, but the two looked at Lief worriedly.

"Lief?" Barda asked.  Lief did not respond, he showed no sign he had even heard Barda.  "Lief, are you all right?"

Lief's eyes were becoming glazed over.  Suddenly a pain shot through Lief's back, stomach and chest, and he fell to his knees, jaw clenched shut.  Jasmine and Barda ran to him, worried, Jasmine fell to her knees beside him, skidding to a stop, trying to see if he was all right, Barda dropped to his knees in front of Lief.  They were trying to get Lief to respond, but the boy did not.  Suddenly, Lief opened his mouth, and blood streamed out of his mouth, and he began to cough it up as well.

Barda dug around in his bag for a cloth, and, once he found one, wet it in the river, the first thing to disturb the water in a while.  Ripples spread through the water.  Jasmine snatched the cloth from Barda, and wiped the blood off Lief's chin, and held the cloth so he would not get blood on his clothes, but on the cloth instead.

Jasmine gave the cloth back to Barda, who washed it in the river and then handed it back to her, and again she wiped the blood off him and caught it.  They went through this routine repeatedly, and slowly, Lief started to be coming back to himself.

~*~*~

  
The blood spread through the water slowly, the colouring of a few parts of the water changing from crystal clear to blood red with the young King's blood.  Not only the blood traveled through the water, but the scent of it did as well.

Something caught the blood's scent.  Burrowing its long, eel-like body under the sand, it moved easily underneath the sand, not disturbing the sand at all, but keeping the smell of Lief's blood in its nose and the rest of its sensory system.  The sand did not move, even with the giant body moving underneath it.  The creature moved easily under the sand, towards the river, where Lief, Barda and Jasmine still sat, still tending to Lief.

~*~*~

And that's that chapter.  Now I'm off to write the next.


	4. Bad Luck

**Unwanted**

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Deltora Quest characters.  However, I do own Dakota, a character I have chosen to throw in.  My best friend, Stephanie, owns Dakota's boyfriend and best friend, the mimic, Lillend. (I don't think I will be putting Lillend in this, however, I probably will have Dakota in this)

Summary: This story is pretty much a story about romance between L/J (Lief and Jasmine).  It will also have quite a bit of romance between Ranesh and Marilen.  Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this fanfic… although, I'm not sure how often I'll update it but I might update it once or more times than that a day, depending on my end-of-the-year homework and such from school.  Over summer you'll probably receive several more fanfics on Deltora Quest from me.

**_WARNING_**: If you people don't like very fluffy/romantic moments between characters, skip the part about Ranesh and Marilen at the end of this chapter.

**Chapter IV**

~*~*~

Jasmine helped Lief lay down, while Barda started a fire.  It was dark out, and cold.  Jasmine draped her blanket along with Lief's and Barda's over Lief, because Lief was shivering from both the cold outside and something else.  Barda and Jasmine huddled close to the fire, and to each other, to keep warm, and had Lief lying by their feet.

Jasmine was supposed to be keeping watch, Barda and Lief were both asleep, and Jasmine began to fall asleep, but tried hard to stay awake, without succeeding.

After a couple of hours, Lief woke.  He was feeling quite dizzy.  He took his empty water flask and moved to the river's edge to refill it.  He knelt by the water, dipping the flask into the cool river, when suddenly, something lunged out of the sand at him.  

He just barely stumbled back, falling, landing dangerously close to the fire.  It was like a giant eel, with pinchers protruding from the top of its head, and on the base of the four pectoral fins it had.  It had a short and stubby dorsal fin, and a long, lashing tail.  Lining its long, slim body were a series of different glowing spots.

The head of the creature was large, with two glowing spots behind each small eye, and large, sharp teeth, and a tongue that had three claws on it.  The eel-like creature extended its tongue, trying to spear Lief with it.  He got Lief in the arm, and was pulling him towards the gaping mouth.  Jasmine and Barda had woke, and Jasmine used her dagger, and stabbed it into the spot between the creature's eyes.  Barda sliced the tongue of the creature, and pulled Lief away.

Jasmine moved away from the thrashing and bleeding creature.  She moved swiftly to Lief and Barda, as the creature slowly died.  She knelt down by Lief, and pried the claws of the tongue out of Lief's arm gently, tossing that part of the tongue aside.

"Lief, take off your shirt," Barda and Jasmine ordered.  Lief did so.  His sleeves were too tight to roll up, so he had to take it off for Jasmine to wrap up the wound in his arm that the creature had made.  The trio also noticed something else.  The pain that Lief had felt in his upper body had resulted in a bruise, of nearly his entire chest, and back on him.  For a while the group just stared.

As the night went on, a thick fog began to form.  The group was huddling close together, Lief still without his shirt.  Jasmine was between the two boys, they had insisted upon putting her there, even if Lief needed the warmth most.

Jasmine was asleep, leaning on Barda, because that way she would not hurt Lief.  Barda was awake and sitting up.  Lief was leaning against Jasmine for support, but was wide-awake.  He and Barda were silent.  The eerie silhouette of the dead eel fish could be seen through the fog, still a slight gleam in the eyes of it.  Lief was quite shaken after that attack, but was calming down.

The hours ticked by, slowly, but surely.  The trio remained where they were until dawn.  A faint red glow of the sun could be seen on the eastern horizon through the thick fog which still lay across the land.

The group decided to move on anyways, and did so, making sure to stay close together, in case they were attacked or Lief collapsed again.

They moved silently and carefully through the fog, walking blindly forwards.  This was probably part of the reason that the messengers didn't make it, or it at least slowed them down.  The eerily thick fog was very hard to travel through.

Jasmine was starting to fall behind, but struggled ahead as a downpour began.  Lief slowed considerably, and nearly could not see his companions ahead of him through the rain and the fog.  He reached forward with both hands.  "Barda?  Jasmine?" he called, hoping they were there.  Jasmine grabbed one of his hands, while Barda took the other, reassuring Lief they were still there.

None of them let go of each other, not wanting to lose one another.

~*~*~

Ranesh sat in the library, watching Joseph bustle around the library.  Ranesh was bored out of his mind as he watched, head in his hands, elbows resting on one of the library tables, he yawned.  Joseph scrambled off behind some other bookshelves, and Ranesh just stay put.  The library doors opened silently, and quietly Marilen entered the library with Sharn.  Sharn moved off to find Joseph, while Marilen moved to Ranesh, now standing behind him.  He knew she was there but he did not turn around.

Marilen leaned down, arms slipping around Ranesh's shoulders; she put her head against the back of his shoulder.  Ranesh let her, taking his hands and moving them to hold Marilen's hands.

Marilen kissed the back of his shoulder gently, and Ranesh simply let her.  Ranesh brought one of Marilen's hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently, looking in the direction of Sharn and Joseph, even if they were hidden by the bookshelf.  Marilen smiled when he did, she nuzzled the back of Ranesh's neck gently, stroking his chest with one of her hands, letting him kiss the other one.

"I'd suggest if you're going to be this affectionate Marilen that we move to a different room," Ranesh said.  "I do not wish for Joseph to shoo us off because of it."

"Good idea," Marilen said.  "Come on, let's go to my room," she released him, and moved off out of the library.  

Ranesh stood to follow, and until then he had not realized just how much he had enjoyed her affection, since he nearly fell over when he stood, still quite happy because of the affection she had shown.  He regained his balance as best he could and followed after Marilen swiftly.

~*~*~

Wow, took me quite a while to make-up that chapter.  Ah well, here I go off to write the next.


	5. Attack

**Unwanted**

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Deltora Quest characters.  However, I do own Dakota, a character I have chosen to throw in.  My best friend, Stephanie, owns Dakota's boyfriend and best friend, the mimic, Lillend. (I don't think I will be putting Lillend in this, however, I probably will have Dakota in this)

Summary: This story is pretty much a story about romance between L/J (Lief and Jasmine).  It will also have quite a bit of romance between Ranesh and Marilen.  Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this fanfic… although, I'm not sure how often I'll update it but I might update it once or more times than that a day, depending on my end-of-the-year homework and such from school.  Over summer you'll probably receive several more fanfics on Deltora Quest from me.

**_WARNING_**: A tiny bit of fluff starts here between Jasmine and Lief.  And I'm taking a break on the Marilen/Ranesh thing until further chapters, since they play no real big part until further chapters.  R/R

**Chapter V**

~*~*~

Eventually, the conditions outside became so bad, since it was raining so hard, and the clouds made it pitch black and the fog did not subside, that the companions had to stop.  They huddled close, each wrapped in their own blankets, underneath the bridge that crossed the river on the embankment just underneath it, between itself and the river, which only had enough room for the three of them to sit, hugging their legs.

Nobody spoke, at least not yet anyways.  Jasmine and Barda were worried about Lief, especially Jasmine.  Barda was listening for any danger, trying to hear over the rain, and Lief was just lost in thought.

_I had been bitten by something before I became ill and started to cough up blood.  Along the riverbank, I'm sure something bit me or stung me, I'm just not sure what it was, and I did not see it.  It might have just been a thorn off a plant.  _Lief thought to himself, as he looked into the clear water, the undisturbed water under the bridge, watching his reflection.

Jasmine was watching Lief.  She was not paying very much attention to her surroundings at all, which was very unlike Jasmine.  _I wonder what Lief's thinking about,_ Jasmine thought to herself.  _He seems so distant right now.  He has for a while too.  I'm worried about him, he's got that huge bruise covering his entire upper body, and he was coughing up blood, and now he has that wound in his arm.  I wonder what it is that's wrong._  Barda, too, was not paying much attention to the surroundings anymore.  The big man was nearly asleep, while Jasmine watched Lief, and Lief watched his reflection.

That's why neither of them heard the growling…

~*~*~

They sniffed the ground, clawed paws leaving clawed footprints as they walked.  The way the pads on the bottom of their feet were built prevented them from sinking into the oozing mud caused by the drenching rain.  

They were growling amongst themselves, occasionally biting at each others ears or ankles.  They highly resembled wolves, but their back and shoulders arched higher than a wolf's, and they had a horse-like mane running down their backs.  Their tails were long and resembled a wolf's.

They were four colours each; reddish brown, black, white and grey.  Their undersides were white, then they would have a large grey patch, then a reddish brown patch, and then a black spot on their backs.  Their mane was pure black.  They had several gleaming, sharp teeth, and black noses made for picking up even the faintest smells.

The pack of wolfish creatures had caught onto the scent of the food the companions carried in their packs.  And these animals were hungry.  Their top two canine teeth protruded over the bottom half of their muzzles like some sort of saber-toothed animal.

They went back to sniffing at the ground, slowly walking; making their way towards the bridge the companions were under.  They found the blood Lief had left behind when he had been choking and coughing it up, and sniffed that for quite a while, before moving on towards the bridge again.  

Soon, the pack reached the bridge, and took select positions.  They were not dumb animals, they were very smart.

The pack caught Lief's movement as he moved uncomfortably, and Barda's movement as well, as Barda shifted in his sleep to a more comfortable position.

For a while everything was quiet, and then the first wolfish creature lunged, but Lief ducked swiftly, and it missed Lief, but got Jasmine, pinning her down.  It bit down hard on one of Jasmine's shoulders.  Jasmine gasped in pain, and was reaching for her dagger, but something shot out of the water, a tentacle of some sort, and grabbed her wrist, dragging her towards the water.

Jasmine struggled harder against the tentacle, not wanting to be dragged into the water.  Lief, with no room to stand, unsheathed his sword, seated, and sliced through the tentacle, but several more came in its place and snatched Jasmine to pull her into the water.  

The wolfish creature yelped as Lief dug his sword into its spine, and threw it off Jasmine.  The other wolves then jumped from their places.  Barda was fighting with four of them already, and the others were attacking Lief and Jasmine.

Jasmine was soon dragged into the water, and was being held under.  Everything soon went black for Lief, and for Barda.

~*~*~

Slowly, Lief opened his eyes to the sounds of birds singing, and people's voices far off.  He looked around himself.  He was in a beautiful room, in a comfortable bed, with a nice warm blanket draped over himself.  Nobody was in the room with him, but it was clear someone soon would be.

Sure enough, a couple of people soon entered the room.  One of the people Lief recognized was Tira.  The other was a girl he was not familiar with.  The girl looked bored, and she had red eyes.  She had pointed elf ears that were tipped with black, and she had brown hair to her shoulders.  She had fangs, and was wearing all black, and she had a long, brown fur-covered tail that was dripping with blue poison at the tip of it.

The girl also had two scythes strapped to her back, and swords sheathed at her sides, her left hand rested on the hilt of one of the swords.  She had brown boots, and she was covered in dark blood, which was not her own.

"Tira… where am I?" Lief asked.

"You're here in Tora," the young girl answered.  "Dakota here," she said, nodding to the 19-year-old with her.  "Found you and your companions being attacked by a pack of those earth elementals."

"Elementals?" Lief asked.  He had read about them in the Deltora Annals, but had not imagined that they were so mean.  The stories he had read were of how kind and gentle they were, especially the earth elementals.

"Yes, the elementals have not been happy," Dakota said.  A forked tongue flicked out of her mouth then back in like a snake.   She was a very beautiful girl though.  Although, it was hard to tell through the blood.  "Something is making them angry," Dakota explained.  "There are four main elements, but… there are six elements in total.  Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, and Darkness.  I'm a darkness elemental." She said.

"Then how are you allowed through the passage into Tora?" Lief questioned.  The girl Dakota was half demon, half elf, and she was the daughter of Lucifer himself.

"A spell stronger than your little friend's will," Dakota said, referring to Jasmine.  "And it is difficult even then for me to pass through without immense physical pain.  After all, I am half demon."

Her comment had suddenly reminded Lief of Barda… and Jasmine.  "Is Jasmine all right?" Lief asked, trying to sit up, but a pain shot through him, and he began to cough up blood again.  Dakota handed him a cloth.  "She cannot swim and she was dragged into the water by something…"

"Barda is fine," Tira said, even if that was not the one that Lief had been talking about.

"But what of Jasmine?"

"Jasmine is not so well."

~*~*~

Ech.  That chapter sucked crap.  Anyways, I'm on to work on the next chapter.  It will start to have quite a bit of romance with Lief and Jasmine.


	6. Blood

**Unwanted**

****

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Deltora Quest characters.  However, I do own Dakota, a character I have chosen to throw in.  My best friend, Stephanie, owns Dakota's boyfriend and best friend, the mimic, Lillend. (I don't think I will be putting Lillend in this, however, I probably will have Dakota in this)

Summary: This story is pretty much a story about romance between L/J (Lief and Jasmine).  It will also have quite a bit of romance between Ranesh and Marilen.  Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this fanfic… although, I'm not sure how often I'll update it but I might update it once or more times than that a day, depending on my end-of-the-year homework and such from school.  Over summer you'll probably receive several more fanfics on Deltora Quest from me.

**_WARNING_**: And on comes the fluff.

**Chapter VI**

~*~*~

"Where is she?  I want to go and check her!" Lief said.

  
"Lief, you are not well, you need to rest," Tira said.  "You don't need to worry about her, she's stable, she just won't wake, but she should be stable and once you're better you may go and see her."

"No, I have to see her now, you don't understand," Lief said.

"What of Barda?  Why not go and see him instead?"

"I do not wish to see Barda if I know he will live, I want to see Jasmine!"

Tira sighed.  Her and Dakota soon left the room, shutting the door behind them, not wanting Lief to get out.  Lief was trying desperately to sit up, but every time he did he would have pain shoot through his chest and he had to lay down again.  Lief was on the edge of crying out for Jasmine but he did not, knowing better than to do that.  It was well into the next night before Lief could sit up without any pain, and so again, he tried to leave the room to see Jasmine, but he did not know where she was.

Lief searched through the house that they were in.  He came across the room Barda was in, and figured that Jasmine's room could not be far off.  He continued to search for it until he found it.

The sound of Jasmine coughing was coming from that room.  Lief entered it, and shut the door softly behind him.  This startled Jasmine and she jumped.  She had woke not that long ago, and was still trying to figure out where she was.

"Jasmine?"

"Lief, where are we?" Jasmine asked.  Her voice was hoarse and it sounded like her throat was sore.  Lief walked to her and sat down on the edge of the bed she was on.  Jasmine looked up at him, waiting for his answer.

"We're in Tora, Jasmine," Lief said.  "We made it here, and I've met someone who knows why nobody has made it to Tora the last while.  So now we know what, but this can't go on forever."

"What is it?" Jasmine asked, a hand at her throat, as she sat up.

"Something to do with the elementals.  They aren't happy, apparently, something is making them restless, and they're attacking people for no apparent reason," Lief answered.  Looking down at tiny Jasmine's body as she coughed, which brought more pain to her chest and throat, made him want to reach out and hold her, and take away the pain to be his.  Although, Jasmine, being the type of person she was, probably would rather Lief keep his distance and not touch her, and she would never admit she was in pain, especially immense pain like she was now.

Jasmine merely nodded, laying back, her head on the pillow.  She closed her eyes in a long blink.  Lief was just watching her.

Jasmine sighed, and eventually she opened her eyes, and looked up at Lief.  "What happened?" she asked.

"Huh?" Lief looked at her, confused at first because he had been lost in thought, he blinked his eyes.

"What happened?  Back before we were brought here…" Jasmine trailed off.

"Well, some wolf-like creatures attacked us, as you know, and something pulled you into the water.  I don't know how those wolves were chased off, but Tira said it was because of Dakota, that half demon girl who told me about the elementals.  She must have chased them off," Lief said.

Jasmine merely nodded.  She began to cough again, and Lief put a hand on her back as she sat up, still coughing.  Soon Jasmine stopped coughing, and was leaning on Lief, her hands at her throat.

She groaned.  "I don't like water… I didn't like it before, but I like it even less now," Jasmine said hoarsely.  Lief nodded slightly, rubbing her back gently with one hand.

For a third time however, that pain shot through Lief, and he fell to his knees on the floor, falling off the bed, hands on the ground, blood poured out of his mouth again, and he began to pale.

~*~*~  
  


**TJ: Many of you are probably wondering what it is with me and making Lief cough up blood.  Dunno what it is, but whatever it is I like so much about it, it makes me laugh at Lief.**

**Lief: Why me?**

**TJ: Because.**

**Lief: That's not an answer.**

**TJ: It is now. *pokes him in the eyes***


	7. The Creature

**Unwanted**

**TJ: Finally, I'm actually getting back into my wonderful world of writing.**

**Lief: Wonderful now, is it?  I could make it a living Hell.**

**TJ: Yeah, but you won't.**

**Lief: *squeaks and nods*  
  
TJ: Good boy.**

**CHAPTER VII**

~*~*~

Jasmine moved to go down and kneel with Lief and try to help him, but her own pain shot through her own chest from having inhaled so much water the night before.  However, Jasmine ignored it and moved off her bed, kneeling beside Lief, using the cloth she had formerly had on her forehead to catch the blood and wipe it away from Lief's mouth once he stopped coughing it up.

"Lief, are you all right?" Jasmine asked, images of his large bruise came into her mind.  "Do you know what's making you do this?"

"The bruise," Lief said, wincing when Jasmine put her hand on his back.  Jasmine apologized.

"How did you get the bruise?"

"I… got bitten by something, or scratched myself on something," Lief said.  Jasmine looked worried suddenly, more than she had been before.

"Lief, get up on the bed, and let me look at this bruise again," Jasmine said.  "Where were you bitten or scraped?"

"On my ankle."

"Let me look at that too," Jasmine said, helping Lief to his feet gently, and helping him to sit on her bed.  Lief took his shirt off, and Jasmine took it, and put it on the back of a chair nearby.  Lief took one of his boots off as well.  Jasmine looked at his ankle first, she nearly screamed.

Hanging off his right ankle was a huge, throbbing worm-like creature, with long legs and several claws.  All the claws were digging into Lief's ankle, along with the entire head, which had been burrowed into Lief's ankle as well.  The creature was swelling, but it did not seem to be drinking any blood.  Lief's ankle appeared weaker than normal, and it seemed the muscle weakness was spreading up his leg.  

The blood seemed to be gathering from that leg, up to Lief's chest and upper body, and was beginning to creep into his arms and other legs, forming the large bruise, which nearly covered Lief's entire body.

Lief nearly yelled in shock and disgust himself.  "Ooh, how are we going to get it off without hurting you?" Jasmine asked nobody in particular, not even really Lief, although it was half aimed to him in case he had any suggestions.

Lief, clearly, was still shocked from what was hanging off his ankle.

He stuttered.  "I don't care if it h-hurts me," he said.  "J-just try and pry it off or something, I r-really don't want to be a big bruise." It was also clear it was making him sick to his stomach, and he didn't like that feeling one bit.  Jasmine nodded, she would be acting totally freaked out in a situation like that as well.

Jasmine thought for a long moment, before pulling one of her daggers out.

Carefully, she sliced each one of the creature's clawed legs off, and then put her dagger between its head and Lief's skin.  Lief gasped in pain, but nothing more, he remained as still as he could to make it easier for Jasmine.

Jasmine began to pry the creature's head out of Lief's ankle; it was hard, because she could barely see around the swelling body.  She then beheaded it, the body falling to the floor, before she continued to pry the head out of Lief's ankle.  Once she accomplished this, she did scream in shock, because the head was still biting at the air, rows and rows of sharp teeth, and a thrashing tongue.

"Jasmine, the legs!" Lief said through the pain of his ankle, the legs of the creature were still digging into his ankle.  It was as if the creature had molded itself onto Lief's ankle.

Jasmine then worked on prying the legs out of Lief's ankle.  As soon as that was done, the bruise began to fade, the blood that had made the bruise streamed out of the holes in his ankle.  Jasmine snatched some bandages from her pack, and started to wrap up Lief's ankle, putting pressure on it to stop the bleeding.

Lief winced in pain, but let her, letting Jasmine gently put a hand on his bare chest and push him into a laying position.

~*~*~

**TJ: Heh, Lief, you're just a –**

**Lief: *puts a hand over TJ's mouth***

**  
TJ: -_-**


	8. It's My Hand Now

**Unwanted**

**TJ: *tackles Lief*  
  
Jasmine: No, mine! *pulls Lief away from TJ and hugs him***

**TJ: Whatever. *throws a rock and Barda, then runs like hell***

**CHAPTER VIII**

~*~*~

Lief started to wake when the sun shone in his eyes.  He rubbed his eyes with one hand, he had tried to use both hands but for some reason he could not move the other hand (his right hand).  There was good reason he could not move his right hand, and soon he found out why.  He was slightly surprised, but then remembered.

He was still in Jasmine's room, and Jasmine was there, lying on her side beside him, sound asleep, holding his right hand tightly to her, curled in a small ball with her knees up to her chest.

Lief thought for a moment.  _Now, how do I get my hand away from her?_ He thought, and then grinned mischievously.  He leaned over, and, very softly, he blew into Jasmine's ear.

In response to that, Jasmine tried to curl into a tighter ball, so Lief did it again.  She swatted at him, still asleep though.  "Jasmine…" Lief softly whispered into her ear, she stopped her movement, as if listening.  "You gunna wake up?" 

Jasmine was wide awake already, she just had her eyes closed and refused to give Lief his hand back.

"No."

"Can I have my hand back?" Lief asked her.

"Nope, it's mine now," Jasmine said, rubbing her cheek against his hand.  

Jasmine and Lief would often be silly like this together; it usually cheered one another up.  And it was clear to both of them that with those creatures wandering outside of Tora and Del, the angry elementals, that it was a time to worry, and yet, they wanted each other to feel better.

But then again, worrying would get them no where, so, they wanted to keep each other happy and calm as best they could as well.

"Jasmine, it's my hand!" Lief protested, Jasmine only grinned.  Lief then used his free hand to start to tickle Jasmine.  She jumped, and squeaked, then started to laugh.

"Lief stop it!  Stop!  I'll give you your hand if you'll just stop!" she said over her laughing.  Lief laughed slightly, and he stopped, hand resting on Jasmine's stomach.  Jasmine released his right hand.  "There…"

"Good girl Jasmine," Lief said with a grin.

Lief sat up and stretched.  He looked down at his bare chest.  Jasmine looked there as well, just staring… "I feel a lot better today, and there's no more bruise," Lief said with a small grin.  "Thanks Jasmine."  
  
He looked to Jasmine, who was still staring at his chest.  "You're welcome Lief," she said.

Lief laughed slightly.

~*~*~

Lief took time later to begin to write a letter to Joseph and the others back at the castle.  Barda was speaking with Tira, Dakota, and a few other Torans, while Jasmine was off somewhere, and Lief was not sure where.  She was probably at the Toran gateway, wishing she was out in the forest again.  _Poor Jasmine, _Lief thought to himself.  _She must not like being trapped within walls, both here, and back at Del._

~*~*~

Lief was right.  Jasmine was not happy being trapped in walls at all.  She did want to run away, but she wanted to stay because Lief was her friend, as was Barda.  Doom was her father, and Sharn she loved like a mother.

Jasmine was currently wandering around the streets of Tora, keeping to the shadows and hoping not to be spotted by anyone.  She did not wish to speak to anyone at the moment, even if they did need information on these elementals.  Jasmine did have Kree and Filli with her, they had arrived that day, and Filli was currently nestled comfortably in Jasmine's shirt collar, while Kree perched proudly on her shoulder.

"You're a good boy Kree…" Jasmine said softly to the black bird, gently tapping Kree under the beak.  "I love you Kree," Jasmine said, as the black bird softly began to nip at her ear.  She laughed slightly.

Filli poked his head out of Jasmine's collar, and chattered.  Jasmine laughed slightly again.  "Silly boy, I love you too, you know that," she said, gently stroking the top of Filli's head.  Filli squeaked happily, then looked around behind Jasmine as Lief walked towards them.  When Lief got to them, Filli jumped off Jasmine's shoulder and landed on Lief's, nestling under Lief's collar.  Filli had been doing that a lot lately.

"Hello Filli, Kree, Jasmine," Lief greeted when he got to them.

"Hello Lief, what is it?" Jasmine asked, wondering what Lief was holding in his hand.

"This is a message for mom and the others back at the palace," Lief said.  "I was wondering… since we might not make it home," although Lief pushed those thoughts out of his head as best he could.  "Do you think Kree could take it?"

It was a stupid question to ask Jasmine.  Why would she even think of putting Kree in danger when she would not put herself through that same danger?  But then again, Kree could fly.  He was an agile bird, and could easily avoid flying close to the water, and he was fast.  Jasmine seemed to look at Lief with a little bit of shock.  It was as if he has asked her to just put Kree into danger.

"N…" Jasmine then thought for another moment.  "Well, all right.  He's less likely to get hurt than we are," Jasmine said.  "What does the note say?" she asked, as Kree took it in his feet, and flew back towards Del with it.

~*~*~

**TJ: Wow, these last few chapters have been really short.**

**Lief: Yeah, but you've been putting them up quickly.**

**TJ: Well… I don't like writing long chapters and I love putting up tons of little chapters… it makes it easier for me.**

**Lief: Good for you.**

**  
Jasmine: *clings to Lief*  
  
Lief: Need… oxygen… Glack!**

**Jasmine: Nope.  It's my oxygen now.**

**TJ: *sigh***


	9. Kisses on Crates

**Unwanted**

**TJ: By the way everyone!  EXTEREME FLUFF BETWEEN LIEF AND JASMINE IN THIS CHAPTER!**

**Lief: Ooh no, the fluff, it BURNS!**

**TJ: *blink* Sure it does.  Just like the kissing scene in Beauty and the Beast.**

**  
Jasmine: That's right…**

**TJ: Wow.  Odd.  I dunno what brought Beauty and the Beast into this conversation; I could have used any Disney movie that had all that _love_ crap in it.  But I chose that one.  Probably because my mother made me watch it the other day… *rolls eyes*  QUICKSILVER THIS CHAPTER IS FOR YOU!!! LOL.  Thanks for the reviews! ^_-**

**CHAPTER IX**

~*~*~

Lief and Jasmine watched as Kree flew off with the note.  Lief explained what the note said; it said they would be home soon, hopefully, and it said they had informed Marilen's parents and had found out the reason why the messengers were not making it to Tora.

Jasmine nodded, the couple of them moved through Tora, occasionally speaking with someone, but Lief stay in the shadows with Jasmine in respect to her, since she had seemed a little rejected the last few days.  

Lief followed Jasmine as she walked into an ally, and he climbed up and sat on the crates she had climbed with her at the back of the ally.

Jasmine leaned on Lief slightly and sighed.  Filli climbed out of Lief's collar, and hopped onto the wooden crate, slipping inside a small hole to examine the contents.  Lief put an arm around Jasmine, glancing around the ally.  It was quite dark, if you were looking in from the streets of Tora it would have been unfriendly and nearly threatening, but Jasmine had come down it and Lief had followed.

Lief figured it was probably because Jasmine wished not to be bothered by the Torans.  She never had gotten along with them well, especially Marilen, even after she had gotten to know her.

"Lief?"

"What does my little light-footed girl want?" Lief asked her teasingly.

Jasmine laughed slightly.  "I want my hug," she said.  "I haven't gotten a hug from you in a _long_ time," she added.  It was true; she hadn't gotten a real hug from Lief for a long while.  Sure, she'd gotten the one-armed hugs, and the very short hugs, but never what she referred to as a real hug, not for a long while at least.

"Ooh, you do?" Lief asked, he was slightly surprised by the response he had gotten from her, but they were close friends.  He put both his arms around her waist and hugged her close to his chest.  Jasmine let him, leaning back against him; her back was pressed against his chest.

Jasmine smiled as Lief did so, putting her arms against his, in a small attempt to childishly hug him back.  Lief laughed slightly at her childish attempt, but did not stop hugging her.

Jasmine had her head leaning back against Lief's shoulder; eyes closed, her head was tilted in such away quite a bit of her neck was exposed to Lief.    Lief still had his arms around her in a hug, and was looking at her.  Mostly, he was looking at her neck.  

_Ah damn, so tempting,_ he thought to himself.  For a moment or so neither of them did anything, and then Lief kissed Jasmine's neck.  Well, started to, since he was by now kissing it repeatedly and lightly, yet slowly.

The young girl was surprised at the touch of his lips at first, but soon just let him, keeping her head tilted for him, but soon she had to tilt it back, because Lief had held her close against him, and had moved around to kissing repeatedly, lightly yet slowly on the front of her neck instead of the side.

Jasmine was quite content in letting him do this to her, she was enjoying it, it felt good.

After a few minutes, Jasmine shifted in Lief's arms, used two fingers under his chin to push his head up, and brushed her lips against his softly.  Both Lief and Jasmine still had their eyes closed.  Lief returned the gentle touch, well, gently, with his own lips.  Soon though, Jasmine had her arms tightly around Lief's neck, and his were tightly around her waist, and they were kissing deeply.

The two of them continued their show of affection, one of Jasmine's hands softly running along one of Lief's shoulders and his chest, until someone cleared their throat at the back of the ally.

The two looked back to see who it was.  It was Barda; Jasmine blushed heavily and buried her face in Lief's chest, biting her lip slightly.

Lief stumbled over his words, until Barda dismissed it with his hand.  "Come you two, some people wish to speak with us.  All of us, immediately," Barda added, as he turned to move out of the alleyway after telling Jasmine and Lief where to go.

Jasmine glanced up at Lief with her green eyes a moment, still blushing.  The two of them watched each other for a long moment, having not really believed what they had been doing.  Jasmine ducked under Lief's arms and moved away from him, as if nothing had happened.  She jumped off the crates lightly, to be greeted by Filli as he jumped easily out of the crate he had been in to examine.

She waited patiently for Lief, as Lief got off the crates, and walked with her to the place they were to have the meeting.

~*~*~

**TJ: Wow, that chapter was short.  My shoulders hurt.  My wrists hurt.  Staying for 4 days at my school to paint walls isn't fun anymore.  I'm in pain and nobody cares.  I want to learn to drive, but I can't for two more years.  This sucks.  Life sucks.  I done ranting now.  Thank you again, QuickSilver, you're the one keeping me updating this story as often as I can.**


	10. Amy

**Unwanted**

**TJ: Thanks Pen2 and QuickSilver for the excellent reviews you're giving to me, I'm liking it.  As soon as I finish reading AoA, Pen2, then I'll help with suggestions, but I'm only part-way through!  LOL**

**Barda: Shall we warn them about this chapter?**

**TJ: Probably.  Okay, there is another girl that Lief is going to seem to be in love with.  Her name is going to be Amy.  Trust me, it won't be pretty between Amy and Jasmine in a few chapters, but, as you guessed, the end result will always (in my stories) be Jasmine with Lief.  I think I pity Jasmine in this chapter.**

**  
Lief: Who wouldn't?  I don't love Amy… she's  a suck up.  I don't like suck ups.**

**TJ: Lief, Jasmine sucks up to you all the time.**

**  
Lief: Yeah, but that's different!**

**TJ: Whatever.**

**CHAPTER X**

~*~*~

Jasmine was not listening to anyone speak, since they were mostly speaking to Lief anyhow.  Mostly about Deltora and how nice it was to have him there; Jasmine did get jealous at a few looks some of the young girls were giving Lief.  Jasmine found herself glaring at those girls.  She couldn't help it, after the ordeal in the alleyway, she felt very possessive towards Lief.  Well, she had before too, but now it was stronger.  He was hers.

Although, they were close friends, nothing more.  So, that ordeal in the alleyway was probably only because Lief wanted someone to show affection to, he did that sometimes.  Still he was not married, and people seemed to be rushing him to be wed, but he wouldn't.

This made Jasmine wonder, Lief needed an heir, and he was clearly lonely, in the sense of having no lover.  Along the same reasons that Jasmine was lonely.  

Lief had so many near-death situations in his life, Jasmine was sure one of them would kill him.  And everyone was terrified that he would die long before he had an heir.

Still Jasmine did not listen as the conversation with the Torans continued.  She pay attention closely to how the young girls looked at Lief and how they spoke to him and what they said, however, but that was about it.  One of the girls was clearly flirting with Lief more than the others were, and Jasmine was giving that girl a death glare.

She seemed to smirk at Jasmine, seeming to see her jealousy.  After a while, Jasmine couldn't take it and she got up and stormed out, everyone except the girl, Amy, watched her leave with surprise on their faces, especially Lief.

Amy nearly instantly moved to sit down beside Lief, where Jasmine once had been.  "Guess she's not in a good mood, huh?  Would you like to come over later?"

"I should really see what's bothering her," Lief said.

"Ooh come on, it's not like she can run away.  I'm sure your other friend won't let her.  You can talk to her later, just come over for a little while," Amy persisted.  Lief thought for a long moment.

  
"Well, all right."

~*~*~

Jasmine, grumbling, had gone back to the alleyway her and Lief had been in a few hours before.  It was about an hour after Jasmine had left the meeting angrily, and with no intentions of going back, or going near Lief when that girl was around.  She only knew the girl's name and she hated her.  It drove her crazy that Lief didn't seem to notice how irritated she had been getting.

_Come on Jasmine, you have other things to worry about other than who loves who and crap.  I don't love Lief… at least, I don't think I do.  I mean, he's a King, supposed to be cooped up all his life within palace walls._

_He's supposed to do everything perfectly, and is supposed to marry who his mother thinks is worthy and have an heir with that girl as soon as possible._

Jasmine sighed depressed, her head in her hands.  Some of her black hair fell into her face, but she did nothing about it, just stared at the end of the alleyway forlornly.  

~*~*~

Meanwhile, back at Amy's house, Lief and Amy were in Amy's bedroom.

Amy was sitting quite close to Lief, a little too close.  If Jasmine had been there, she would have lost her temper at how close Amy was to Lief.  Only Jasmine had ever been that close to Lief.  Amy ran her fingertips lightly across the top of Lief's upper leg. ((I'm sorry, I'm trying not to laugh as I write this, so forgive any typos please!))

Lief didn't seem very uncomfortable with it though, he seemed to be letting her do so.  _Amy is a very beautiful girl.  And I'm really enjoying her company, but I should really go and find out what's wrong with Jasmine.  Of course, Jasmine can wait, I think I might be in love with Amy… so far, there's not much I dislike about her, if I dislike anything at all._

"So, Lief, what would you like to do now?" Amy asked, fingertips running up slightly higher. ((Meep.  That was out of the blue.))

Lief could only tremble, and fall onto his back in response.  This was his reaction, mostly to her touching him.  

Amy slowly moved so that she was laying on top of Lief.  And she then started to kiss him, on his lips, jaw, near his ear, or his neck.  

Lief had his eyes closed, although, he wasn't sure why.  It was either out of contentment or discomfort, but, currently, Lief didn't seem to be able to react as he probably should have.

~*~*~

**TJ: I think it would be unsafe for me to continue this chapter, I think we know what Lief and Amy are thinking, of course, Jasmine is not going to like it.  She's going to be quite unhappy, especially when she finds out Amy was seducing Lief quite easily.**

**Lief: She is?**

**TJ: She is now yes.**

**Lief: I don't want to be seduced by her… I want to be seduced by Jasmine.**

**TJ: Nope.  Not allowed.  Not yet.**

**Lief: Aw, you suck.**

**TJ: Shut up and do your job.**

**Lief: Make me.**

**TJ: *holds up a mace* NOW!**

**  
Lief: Meep *runs***


	11. Claws

**Unwanted**

****

**TJ: Stupid FFNet isn't agreeing with me.  At least, wasn't, for most of the day.  *growls***

**Lief: Haha, you can't write more chapters.  
  
TJ: Actually, I can, and you know what Lief?  I think I'm going to make you go pretty close to all the way with Amy.**

**Lief: No!  Why me?  
  
**

**TJ: Because.  I don't like you.  I like Ranesh, remember?**

**  
Marilen: Hey!  Ranesh is mine!  
  
TJ: *Growls at Marilen* No, MINE! *clings to Ranesh***

**Ranesh: *sweatdrop***

**Barda: She's fighting over book characters now. The Japanese Anime characters I can understand, but BOOK characters?  
  
TJ: You shut up Barda.  Because *takes a deep breath, then sings* Nobody loves you, nobody wants you, nobody loves you, everybody hates you!**

**Barda: *glares***

**TJ: If I started 'adopt-a-Barda' how many people do you think would want him?  Hmm?  I'm asking you reviewers (mainly Pen2 and QuickSilver).  One of the lines in a song I was listening to is: "Love is your hand that covers my breast" and it made me laugh.  Sorry, I'm very childish around that sort of subject.  Ech…**

**CHAPTER XI**

~*~*~

An hour or so later, Lief was still making out with Amy.  Her bedroom door was closed, and she had Lief on top of her, his shirt was off, and hers had been pushed up to just under her chest.  Lief's hands were placed on her sides, and Amy's hands were rather low on Lief's stomach.  Slowly, Amy undid Lief's pants, at least, she started to…

She stopped when Lief became very tense and seemed uncomfortable.  He pulled away from Amy, rolling right off her, and fastening up his pants again, adjusting the Belt of Deltora around his waist, and pulling his shirt and cloak back on.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked.

"I totally forgot about Jasmine, I really have to see what's wrong with her or it will eat me alive.  She's probably angry with me for not coming to find her earlier, she is my best friend.  And I don't think I'm quite ready to go as far as you were implying," he added, as he bolted out of the room to find Jasmine.  He left Amy's house, searching for Jasmine.

"Jasmine?  Jasmine where are you?" Lief called.  By now it was raining, hard, and Jasmine was nowhere in sight.  Lief checked the alleyway they had been in earlier, and all the other alleyways, but she was not there.

Lief found her, near the gateway of the city.  She was laying on the ground, her eyes were closed, and she was breathing.  Lief ran over to her.

He knelt down beside her, and shook her slightly, but she did not open her eyes.  He then picked her up into a sitting position; a small pool of her blood was underneath her.  How could something that was to bring harm get into Tora?  Unless, it had already been in Tora.

"Jasmine, come on, wake up Jasmine!" Lief said, holding her up so that she was sitting.

Jasmine did not wake, and so Lief picked her up, and carried her to the new place they would be staying until they left.  It was a house that nobody was currently living in, and there were enough rooms for all three companions.  Lief took her to the room that he would be using, and lay her on her stomach on his bed.

Lief didn't think Jasmine would appreciate it, but he knew that it had to be examined, and so, Lief made Jasmine kneel, and, standing so he made sure he was watching only her back, he removed her shirt.  He lay her down on her stomach again softly, and then looked at her back.

All along her back were wounds, deep cuts that had been caused by claws.

Lief found himself lightly running his fingers over the deep and bleeding wounds, getting blood on the fingers of his right hand, but he did not seem to care, that is, until Jasmine winced.  Lief jumped slightly when she did so, but then realized what he had been doing was probably very painful for her.

"Sorry Jasmine," Lief said softly to her, whether she could hear him or not.  Jasmine opened her eyes weakly and glanced back at Lief; head still down on the pillow.  "I'll fix these up… I hope." He said, searching through his pack, which he had brought with him, he looked for anything that might help.  The most he could find was a cloth, and so he wiped the blood away with that.  The wounds looked even worse that way.

There were dozens of scratch wounds on her back, all of them were deep and bleeding, and all of them were swollen and blood red, and were obviously causing Jasmine more pain that she would allow herself to show.

"Easy Jasmine," Lief said, as she winced when he used the cloth to apply pressure to a few of the wounds, so the bleeding would stop.  Jasmine kept herself from yelling in pain, and shut her eyes tightly, a tear or two falling from her eyes.  "Easy… sorry Jasmine, but we can't leave these wounds bleeding…"

Jasmine gasped in pain when one of Lief's fingers slipped and burrowed into one of her wounds.  She had not yelled out in pain though, even though she had wanted to.

  
"Sorry!" Lief said, removing the finger and trying to avoid that happening again.  "Good girl…" Lief said as Jasmine seemed to calm.  "Good girl…"

Once Lief got all the wounds to stop bleeding, he gently rubbed Jasmine's back with a clean cloth.  "What happened Jasmine?" Lief asked, but, as he looked at her face to get a response, he saw she was asleep.

Lief moved his hand, but Jasmine woke and looked at him, seeming worried when his touch had left her, so, Lief put his bare hand on her back, and Jasmine nearly instantly fell asleep again.  Lief watched her for a long moment, using his free hand to tuck her in, trying to keep one hand on her back at all times.  Once she was tucked in, he softly rubbed her back with one hand again, and she fell into a deeper sleep, arms folded under her head.

_My poor girl,_ Lief thought to himself.  _Wakes up if I'm not touching her back, and won't speak to me right now.__  I don't want to push her, because she'll get more mad at me than she is probably.  At least, I think she's mad at me for not coming to find her earlier.  I should have, then she wouldn't be like this… she has enough scars mentally and physically, she doesn't need this.  She's my girl.  She's my best friend.  What would I do without her?_

~*~*~

**TJ: The fluff, so much, drowning…**

**Lief: Wow, it's ankle-deep fluff, big whoop.**

**TJ: *glares at Lief***


End file.
